leocadiz

The petition alleges that the School System must provide "a quality education to all it's
students". Great goal, but impossible to achieve for students whose culture at home
does not teach discliple/respect or children who have psychological/psychiatric
problems or children who have no sense of self worth or children who have no expectations
of achieving a life better than their parents (or in most cases their mother, since the father
is no where to be found).

The feel good legislation that commands public schools to achieve the impossible has
served only to dumb down the curriculum and produce, at best, graduates who are
mediocre.

Any thinking person should be fearful about the future of this country, because the
traditional vehicle for improvement of the less fortunate of this country can no longer
do it's intended job.

Over the years, I have defended numerous pitt bull owners who were in
jeopardy of a large judgment that could cause them to lose there home.
Time and again I heard surprised explanations that THEIR pitt bull was
different--"had never bitten anyone before", "was a gentle, playful puppy
and adult", or "was always good around the kids".
What they did not understand that these dogs were genetically inclined to be
violent & aggressive when confronted with a threat to their territory or to their
masters. No amount of training could remove the dangerous tendencies of this
breed, which were in their DNA.
PITT BULLS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!!

All I can say to you is "So far, so good". You are playing with fire having an animal with such
vicious propensities around your children. Over the years I have heard pitt bull owners, facing
lawsuits, exclaim that their dog had been sooo loving & sooo nice around the children that they
never dreamed that he was capable of a vicious attack.

Good training of a puppy will not eradicate the built in tendencies that stay with the adult dog.

Pit bulls are bred to be reactively dangerous. There are genetic reasons for their
aggressive actions. People who chose to own those vicious animals place their
children & others in constant danger of an "unexpected" reaction to what the dog
perceives to be a threat to their masters or their territory.

Allegations /suspicions of wrongdoing by Aaron Broussard go back more than 30 years.
On july 9, 1982, Aaron Broussard was mayor of Kenner. When the Eastern Air Lines
plane crashed into a Kenner neighborhood, Broussard supposedly banned all attorneys
access to the neighborhood, but one, a person known to be "friendly" to the mayor.
By the time the ban was lifted, that attorney had signed up most of the crash victims.
He went on to reap millions in fees from that disaster.
One can only wonder how Broussard was rewarded for favoring that friend.

The delays you experienced MAY be correct. Where they taken into consideration when you finally settled with Citizens? If you were a member of the class action, you, like the 1000s of other class members, did not have to present any evidence of such delay. You complain about the ineptitude of Citizens. If it had been run like a real business and not a political program to accomodate voters, it might have been more sensitive to the 30 day requirement. Government is not capable of efficiently running any business. Any government program, beginning with the Armed Forces & going from there, historically are not cost efficient. That is due to government rules & regulations that are not concerned with the extra costs arising from their implementation. We must have a strong military, even though it is not cost efficient. But there are many government programs that compete with private businesses which should be abolished or very limited in their activities. The point is a state run insurer has no profit incentive to drive it to be as efficient & customer oriented as does a private insurer. The next time you go to a Dept of Motor Vehicles for license, tag, or title just wonder if you would be treated faster or more efficiently if that bureau was run by a for profit business that had to compete with other companies that were allowed to compete in the issuance of licenses, tags or titles.

Finally, you can get mad at Citizens, but remember in the long run it will be you & other property owners who will have to foot the bill. How would you feel if the courts allowed class actions against other government entities that failed to provide timely & efficient services?

librarymom, Citizens is an insurer of last resort, available ONLY if you cannot find a private insurer to issue coverage. Under law, it is mandated to charge 10% more than private insurers. The whole point is to get property owners back into private insurers. The state should not be in the insurance business in the first place. If you don't believe me, talk to your agent.

Citizens is a nonprofit insurer, created by politicians. Because of legislative acts in 2002, the original FAIR PLAN & COASTAL PLAN were merged to create Citizens. Implementaion of the statutes was not finalized until July of 2005. Citiizens was in the process of getting adjusting companies ready for action when Katrina hit. Citizens had over 75,000 claims to deal with, and could not comply with the statutory requirements imposed upon for profit insurers to initiate claims handling within 30 days of the insured event.

The Louisiana legisture has had ample opportunity to pass a law exempting Citizens from the 30 day requirement, but chose not to do so. WONDER WHY?

Now plaintiff lawyers will reap hugh fees from Citizens, the cost of which will be the burden of every business or individual who owns property in this state.

Where is the outrage?

What have the Times-Picayune & other papers had to say about the real story of the class action ( actually class actions, for others are still to be determined)?

More boneheaded thinking by politicians/beaurocrats. The best thing for the French Quarter and
downtown New Orleans would be to tear down the Ibervile complex, relocate the tenants, and
sell the land to private developers.
DO SOMETHING TO KEEP THIS CITY SAFE!

The earlier comment about cats is right on target. Just get about 6 large MALE cats, place them strategically around the food areas, with automatic cat food & water dispensers, and monitor them daily' In due course the rats will get their well deserved fate. This clearly would be a cost effective natural way to eradicate the problem.

There is sooo much more to the books than children having to kill other children. If you can find the time to read all 3 books (a very easy read), you will find the message of how a sound democracy/republic form of government can become subversive by too much success. As one who has voted in 12 presidential elections & who is fearful of this nation's future, I can only hope that the teens who read these books see the dangers ahead of them.

Those people claiming that these statistics "prove" discrimination, should ask if the involved students were
punished because of the color of their skin OR because of the cultural values which these students brought
into the class room.

1. A lone policeman made the stop & learned that an arrest warrant wasout
on one of the occupants.
2. The lone officer called for backup, and 2 task force officers shortly arrived.
3. The shooting began as the task force officers were attempting to get the
2 men out of the car.

My question is why Serpas has not gotten the facts out by now, so to stop
meanspirited speculation as to how this tragic event occurred?